Observations
about cellular
carriers in the central states of the US, broken down by performance
based on location, and reported by state. This information is gathered
from online research, personal
experience and reports by contributors in the field.

ARKANSAS:

Verizon
Wireless and AT&T
have very good networks in the state but
this is
also where US
Cellular
shines as having the best cell phone coverage in
most rural areas of Arkansas. T-Mobile,
with their new 4G LTE
"Extended" coverage, offers
very good service in most urban and rural areas of
Arkansas. Sprint
serves urban areas and the interstates, but not much else. TracFone
and StraightTalk
work very well in the the entire state.

ILLINOIS:

AT&T
is the leader for the best cell phone coverage in most areas
of Illinois
outside of Chicago, but Verizon
Wireless has several coverage and frequency
advantages in many locations.
The northwestern half of Illinois is covered by US
Cellular and if they're in your neighborhood, we
prefer
them over
almost all others. Sprintperforms
slightly better than AT&T
in many cities, including Chicago, but they suffer in rural
areas. T-Mobile,
does not have their new 4G LTE "Extended" coverage in Illinois, but
they do offer good service
along major highways and in most urban areas. TracFone and Straight Talkare also
good
choices across the state.

INDIANA:

Verizon
Wireless has several coverage and frequency
advantages for the best cell phone coverage in rural areas of Indiana
with AT&T
at the top in as many locations. With so many urban areas and busy
highways, Sprint
performs well, even slightly better than AT&T
in some areas. T-Mobile,
offers good coverage in the populated parts of northern Indiana
and very good coverage with their new 4G LTE "Extended"
coverage
over the southern half of the state including Indianapolis. TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices across the whole region.

IOWA:

Verizon
Wireless and AT&T
have assembled very good networks in the area but
this is
also where US
Cellular
shines as having the best cell phone coverage in most rural
areas of
Iowa. T-Mobile
has taken over their Iowa affiliate, iWireless
which performs well over populated parts of the state, but
they haven't built their 'Extended' network there, yet. Sprint
serves urban areas and the interstates, but not many rural
areas. TracFone
and StraightTalk
work very well in the the entire state.

KANSAS:

Verizon
Wireless dominates Kansas with
excellent
4G coverage. AT&Toffers
good coverage in the urban areas of Kansas, and is tied with Verizon
for coverage in the
western half of the state. US
Cellularis
a
top
choice in rural Kansas although they don't serve the western
half
of the state and the Topeka to Kansas City urban corridor. Viaero
Wireless
is the rural coverage leader northwestern Kansas and the
leader in
rural Nebraska if your travels take you over the border. Nex-Tech Wireless
provides excellent rural coverage in areas of southwest Kansas where
other carriers are
marginal. T-Mobile,
with their new 4G LTE "Extended" coverage, offers
very good service
across most of the state with the exception of some rural
areas in the western part of the state. Sprint has
some coverage in the eastern half of Kansas,
otherwise
they have no service other than with their roaming partners. TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices across most of the state.

MICHIGAN:

Verizon
Wireless has several coverage and frequency
advantages including the Upper Peninsula to give them the best
cell phone coverage in
the largest area of Michigan.
AT&T
is the leader in a few areas including certain rural
locations, but they suffer in some urban areas. If you live in
the "thumb", Thumb Cellular
has the best coverage in the area. Sprintperforms
slightly better than AT&T in urban areas
but they suffer in rural
areas. T-Mobile,
with their new 4G LTE "Extended" coverage, offers excellent service
across most of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices across the state.

MINNESOTA:

Verizon
Wireless and AT&T
have assembled networks with the best cell phone
coverage in Minnesota. T-Mobile
has good coverage in most of the state and is excellent in the
southeast half of the state with their new 4G LTE "Extended" coverage. Sprint
serves urban areas and the interstates, but not much else. TracFone
and StraightTalk
work very well in the the state.

MISSOURI:

Verizon
Wireless and AT&T
have the most coverage in Missouri, but
this is
also where US
Cellular
shines as having the best cell phone coverage
in most rural areas with the exception of the southwest corner
of the state. T-Mobile,
with their new 4G LTE
"Extended" coverage, offers
very good service in most urban and rural areas of Missouri.
If you live in the northwest part of the state, NorthwestCell
provides very good coverage if you can find a plan to your
liking. Sprint,
which is based in Kansas City,
serves urban areas and the interstates, but not much else. TracFone
and StraightTalk
work very well in the the entire area.

NEBRASKA:

Verizon
Wireless is available in most parts of the state
with
excellent
4G-LTE coverage. Viaero
Wireless is the rural coverage leader in
Nebraska and northwestern Kansas. For a large part of both
states, US
Cellularis a
top
choice with only the panhandle of the state uncovered. AT&Thas no service
of their own in Nebraska other than around Omaha and in the Nebraska
panhandle.
T-Mobile
and Sprint
provide almost
no service in
Nebraska outside of Omaha. TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices across most of the state.

OHIO:Verizon
Wireless has several coverage and frequency
advantages for our choice with the best
cell phone coverage
through most of Ohio.
AT&T
is the leader in south and southeast Ohio, but they suffer in
several urban areas including
Cleveland and Akron, and off-highway areas of the north. Sprintperforms
slightly better than AT&T
in many urban areas of the state, but they suffer in rural
areas. T-Mobile,
has added to their new 4G LTE "Extended" coverage and offers excellent
service
across many, but not all, parts of the state. TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices for prepaid across Ohio.

OKLAHOMA:

The
area from I-35 eastward is
served best by US
Cellular with
good coverage and a customer-friendly experience. AT&Tserves
most of the state very well. Verizon
Wireless has some big
holes in the southeast and northwest parts of the state,
and Oklahoma City is not their
best urban market.T-Mobileoffers
good service in most populated areas of the
state and has some of their 4G LTE "Extended" coverage in
the extreme southeast part of the state. Sprint
covers most populated areas, but the western
third of the state is served well by Pioneer
Cellular,
a
Sprint affiliate.
The panhandle is best covered by Verizon
Wireless
and PTCI.
Oklahoma is one state that has several rural areas served
with cellular from
the
local co-op telephone company. One of the most well-established of them
is Bravado Wireless
who has added more phones to their selection and simplified their
plans after the recent name change. Another is Cross Wireless
in eastern Oklahoma. Among prepaid carriers, TracFone
and StraightTalk
serve the largest amount of the state.

TEXAS:

For
a state as large as Texas,
it's difficult to declare any carrier "The Best", but if we had to
choose, it would be AT&T.
Through mergers, acquisitions and government generosity, they ended up
with more of the best spectrum available. But they do not
dominate in west Texas
where, after aquisions, Verizon
Wireless is now tops. T-Mobile, with
their new 4G LTE "Extended" coverage, offers
excellent service across most of Texas with the
exception of the southeast corner of the state. Sprint
works reasonably well in populated areas and along major highways but
leaves many rural areas without coverage. Wichita Falls and surrounding
areas are lucky to have US Cellular
available, one of our top-rated carriers. TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices for prepaid across the entire state. There
is a handful of small carriers in the state with widely varying
quality, many of which offer reasonable Unlimited local plans. West
Central Wireless around the Hill
Country is a good choice for both coverage and service. Tampnet
provides cellular service in the Gulf of Mexico, however, AT&T
and T-Mobile customers can roam on the Tampnet network.

WISCONSIN:

Verizon
Wireless has several coverage and frequency
advantages including the northern reaches of Wisconsin and the Upper
Penninsula of Michigan.
About half of the region is covered by US
Cellular and if they're in your neighborhood, we
prefer
them over
almost all others. AT&T
is the leader in a few areas including certain rural
locations, but they suffer in some urban areas. Sprintperforms
equally well as AT&T
in many cities, including Milwaukee and Madison, but they suffer in
rural
areas. T-Mobile,
does not have much service outside of the urban areas of the
southeastern part of the state. TracFone and Straight Talkare good
choices for prepaid across the whole state.